Department of Homeland Security August 23, 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Department of Homeland Security, Office of the Chief Procurement Officer, Acquisition Policy and Legislation Office, has submitted the following information collection request (ICR) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and clearance in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13, 44 U.S.C. Chapter 35). The Office of the Chief Procurement Officer is soliciting comments concerning a renewal to an existing collection, Regulation on Agency Protests.

The Coast Guard is establishing a temporary safety zone upon certain waters of the Patapsco River, Northwest Harbor, and Inner Harbor during the movement of the historic sloop-of-war USS CONSTELLATION. This action is necessary to provide for the safety of life on navigable waters during the tow of the vessel from its berth at the Inner Harbor in Baltimore, Maryland, to a point on the Patapsco River near the Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine in Baltimore, Maryland, and return. This action will restrict vessel traffic in portions of the Patapsco River, Northwest Harbor, and Inner Harbor during the event.

This rule adopts as final, with the modifications set forth in this document, proposed amendments to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) regulations concerning electronic manifest transmission requirements relative to travelers (passengers, crew members, and, in some instances, non-crew members) onboard international commercial flights and voyages arriving in and departing from the United States. The rule is designed to enhance national security and the level of security provided under the regulations for the commercial air and sea travel industries, and consequently increase national security in general. The rule also implements the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, which requires that electronic manifest information for passengers onboard commercial aircraft arriving in and departing from the United States, and passengers and crew onboard arriving and departing commercial vessels (with certain exceptions), be vetted by DHS against a government-established and maintained terrorist watch list prior to departure of the aircraft or vessel. Under this final rule, there are three options for air carriers to transmit manifest data for aircraft departing from or en route to the United States: Transmission of passenger manifests in batch form by an interactive method no later than 30 minutes prior to the securing of the aircraft doors (APIS 30); transmission of individual passenger manifest information as each passenger checks in for the flight, up to, but no later than, the time the flight crew secures the aircraft doors (APIS interactive Quick Query or AQQ); and transmission of passenger manifests in batch form by a non-interactive method no later than 30 minutes prior to the securing of the aircraft doors (APIS 30 ``non- interactive''). For sea travel, CBP will require vessel carriers to transmit passenger and crew manifests for vessels departing from the United States no later than 60 minutes prior to departure. For vessels departing from foreign ports destined to arrive at a U.S. port, CBP is retaining the current requirement to transmit passenger and crew arrival manifest data at least 24 hours and up to 96 hours prior to the vessel's entry at the U.S. port of arrival.

The Department of Homeland Security is proposing to amend its regulations to exempt portions of a system of records from certain provisions of the Privacy Act. Specifically, the Department proposes to exempt portions of the Advance Passenger Information System from one or more provisions of the Privacy Act because of criminal, civil, and administrative enforcement requirements. This notice is a republication of the Treasury Department exemption regulation (title 31, Code of Federal Regulations, part 1) which previously covered the Advanced Passenger Information System as part of the Treasury Enforcement Communications System.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is proposing to amend the Transportation Security regulations to exempt a new system of records from several provisions of the Privacy Act. Secure Flight Records (DHS/TSA 019) will include records used as a part of a passenger watch list matching program known as Secure Flight. The Secure Flight program implements a mandate of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (IRTPA) (Pub. L. 108-458, 118 Stat. 3638, Dec. 17, 2004) and is consistent with TSA's authority under the Aviation and Transportation Security Act (ATSA). Section 4012(a)(1) of the IRTPA requires TSA to assume from air carriers the comparison of passenger information for domestic flights to the consolidated and integrated terrorist watch list maintained by the Federal Government. Further, Section 4012(a)(2) of IRTPA similarly requires the DHS to compare passenger information for international flights to and from the United States against the consolidated and integrated terrorist watch list before departure of such flights. Under the Secure Flight program, TSA would assume the current watch list matching function to the No Fly and Selectee from aircraft operators. TSA is proposing exemptions for DHS/TSA 019 to the extent necessary to protect the integrity of investigatory information that may be included in the system of records.